3 Answers
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Right after posting the question, I discovered that this is the ne explétif (Expletive ne), which is "used without being needed for the meaning or syntax of a sentence." according to Le Petit Robert de la langue française.

So the ne explétif does not add any meaning – negative or otherwise – to the sentence; it’s just there to draw attention to what precedes it. It’s formal and optional, and used after certain verbs and expressions that have a negative meaning, in either sense of the word: negative as in bad (fear, warning) or negative as in negated (denial, doubt).

Some examples:

Évitez qu’il ne vous voie. Avoid letting him see you.

Avant que vous ne preniez une décision … Before you make a decision …

J’ai moins de travail que vous n’en avez. I have less work than you (do).

this french sentence here, if you translate it, means "He is less spectacular than we think generally". It's mean you are contradictory with your thought and the "ne" here is for proving it. I hope i helped you, and sorry if you don't understand something, i'm a french guy trying to improve his english :)

"Il court plus vite que vous ne pensez pas. He runs faster than you think." Should that trailing "pas" be there? Not correcting you -- I honestly don't know, but based on what I'm learning here, I would think it would not.
– HaydentechApr 4 '18 at 20:13